Bedtime Stories
by ProfessionalxDaydreamer
Summary: Maureen decides to tell her daughter a story about the three greatest loves of her life; and as she remembers, she might just have a chance to go back and fix things. Come in and read it! Multi-chapter, rated T. MoJo, Mark/Maureen, Maureen/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: This story really came to me on a whim. It's based on the movie "Definitely, Maybe," so if you've seen it, you know pretty much how the plotline will go, though there are a few changes. Just so you know, I can't stand Mark/Maureen, but it's going to be important to this fic, so I'm branching out! The pairings for this fic will be (probably in this order): Mark/Maureen, Maureen/Joanne, Maureen/OC. So! What are you waiting for? If you review, I will continue :)**

**(Oh, and yesterday was my birthday. Reviews make good presents. ;)**

"Mommy, have you ever been in love?"

Maureen turned around at the sound of her eight-year-old daughter's voice, laughing at her question. The little girl looked at her mother expectantly, hands on her hips, a small eyebrow arched.

"Well?"

Maureen laughed again, scooping her daughter up in her arms. "Of course, Jules. What makes you ask that?"

Julia Johnson shrugged, flipping her long, chestnut brown hair over her shoulder. "Billy Martin says he's in love with me."

Maureen raised an eyebrow. "Billy Martin, the boy who sits next to you, and stole your crayons last week?"

Julia nodded. "He asked me to marry him."

Maureen snorted, looking into her daughter's bright blue eyes. "And what did you say?"

Julia smiled. "I told him that I never want to get married, just like my mommy!" She looked proudly at Maureen, who frowned.

"Jules, you don't--"

"Mommy, I said--"

"Julia," Maureen said sternly, and the little girl's head snapped up. "Just because I don't want to get married doesn't mean you can't. Just...when you're older. Not eight. And domestic partnerships are just as good, you get the same benefits--"

"Mommy, have you ever been in _love?_" Julia asked, her eyes bright and wide. "I want to be in _love!"_

Maureen sighed warily. "Trust me, sweetie. You don't. Love is...trouble. Now go wash your hands, dinner's almost ready."

Julia nodded, her question still unanswered as she ran to the bathroom. Maureen stood in the kitchen, stirring the pasta rhythmically. She thought about her life, and all the events that had led up to Julia's arrival. Her daughter was, without doubt, the most important thing to happen to her, as children usually were.

Maureen had never thought herself to be the mothering type, but as soon as she'd held her newborn baby in her arms for the first time, staring into those innocent eyes, she'd fallen in love.

The good kind; the kind that was unconditional.

"Okay, Mommy. Ready." Julia sat down at the table, and Maureen set a plate of pasta in front of her, carrying her own plate to the table. "So, did you learn anything interesting in school today, sweetheart?"

Julia went to the Manhattan School, a public school in Midtown Manhattan. "Yes, we learned about penises and vaginas."

Maureen nearly choked on her bite of pasta. Coughing, she took a long gulp of water, letting out a breath when the choking finally ceased. "Mommy, are you okay?"

Maureen nodded, dizzily. "Y--yeah, Jules. Now, what did you say you learned about? Doesn't the school send something, like a letter or something, home to the parents? So we know when that sort of thing is being taught?"

Her daughter shrugged. "I didn't get a letter."

Maureen bit her lip. Was Julia old enough to learn about the birds and the bees? After all, she was already eight, and at her age, Maureen had already kissed a boy. _It's probably best we talk about this together, _Maureen thought. _After all, time flies! Soon, she'll be having sex!_

Maureen cringed at the thought. "Hey, Mommy?" The little girl poked Maureen with her fork. "How was I made?"

Maureen sighed. "Sweetie, we've talked about this. I wanted a baby, and Uncle Mark helped me with that. We went to the hospital and I got his seeds put into me, and they made friends with my egg, and you were born!"

Julia looked at her doubtfully. "How was I _really _made?"

"I just told you!"

"But...Danny Fletcher said that he has a Mommy _and_ a Daddy. Why don't I have a Daddy?"

Maureen sighed. She'd always avoided talking to her eight-year-old about this, because of the complications it would bring up. Maureen was a lesbian; Julia hardly knew what that meant. Maureen never dated-- it was always too hard to find someone she liked, and who would love Julia, too. However, her daughter was getting older.

These questions would inevitably come up throughout her childhood, and Maureen knew she'd have to be prepared to answer them. "Jules?" She asked as Julia finished the last of her pasta.

"Yeah?"

"How would you like to hear a little story about me?" Julia's eyes lit up, and Maureen couldn't help but smile. "Will you tell me who my daddy is?"

Maureen sighed. "Sweetie, I already told you--"

Julia sighed, too, as she always mimicked Maureen's actions. "Mommy, don't you know that you have to have a penis and vagina? You need a penis, Mommy!"

Maureen shook her head at the girl, putting her head in her hands. "Go get ready for bed, and then I'll tell you the story, okay?"

Julia grinned, hurrying to her room to get ready for bed.

Fifteen minutes later, Maureen walked into the room, sitting down on the fluffy, blue bed. "You look nice and cozy," she remarked to her daughter, who was in her favorite pajamas, which had a picture of a cow jumping over the moon on the front.

Julia nodded, leaning back on the pillows, eager to hear the story. "So, what is this story going to be about?"

Maureen thought for a moment. "Remember when you asked me if I've ever been in love before?"

Julia nodded.

"Well, I have. I've been in love three times in my life, with three different people."

"And one of them is my Daddy!" Julia said, and Maureen got the feeling that her daughter meant "Daddy" as more than just the sperm to Maureen's egg.

Maureen nodded, resigned. "Yes. One of them is your Daddy, or so you could say."

"Well, which one?"

"That's the catch," Maureen said. "I'm going to tell you the story of my life, from when I met my first love, to when I broke things off with my last, and had you." She poked Julia on the nose, and the girl giggled.

"Okay."

"And I'll change the names, to protect the innocent," Maureen added, knowing that 'Uncle Mark' would show up quite a bit in this story.

"Okay!" Julia was getting excited. "Make up good names, okay, Mommy?" Maureen nodded.

"So," she began. "Once upon a time, there lived a young, naive, twenty-one-year-old woman named Maureen Johnson."

Julia gasped. "You! That's you!"

Maureen laughed and nodded. "And she didn't know much about the world. She had just come to New York City, from her stifling home in Long Island, to make it big in showbiz. Our story begins on a muggy, July morning. Maureen headed to an audition in the gritty East Village of Manhattan, when she was almost knocked over by someone on a bike..."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Wow! Thanks for your reviews! Reviews make me update faster, which is why I'm giving you another chapter today. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! :)**

Chapter 2

_______________________________________

Maureen walked quickly and purposefully down the narrow sidewalk, looking at her shoes as she went. She clutched tightly to her messenger bag, which her mother had bought especially for use in the City.

_You could get robbed! _Her mother had said on many occasions before she'd left. _This bag is less likely to get stolen._

Then, she'd pinched Maureen's cheeks, telling her over and over again that it a place like New York City was too big for a girl like her; that it stunk and was scary, and Maureen would be back home in a month, tops.

But presently, as she took in all of the messy, dilapidated beauty that was the East Village, she couldn't help but grin. She would make it here, she just _knew _it. She closed her eyes for a moment, picturing her name bright in lights, up on every marquee--

A flash of red, and then a noisy collision. Maureen was knocked back onto the sidewalk, and she clutched her head wearily. Pain throbbed in her head and back, and she swore angrily at the bruises that would inevitably show up the next day.

_Welcome to New York City, _she thought bitterly. _My first week, and already I get run over._

"Oh my God, are you okay?" A concerned male voice called out. Maureen opened her eyes, seeing a blonde guy, young; around her age. He had short, cropped blond hair and big blue eyes, which hid behind thick glasses. A scarf was wound around his neck, though it was July. His bicycle lay on the cement next to her.

"Er...yeah," Maureen said faintly, clutching her head. She attempted to sit up, but winced when pain shot through her skull.

The man came closer. "No, you aren't. I'm so sorry! Do you want me to call an ambulance?"

Maureen laughed, and the sound threatened to split her skull open. "No, it's not that dire of a situation."

He let out a breath in relief. "Good. Here, how about I take you to my place, help you get fixed up. Unless you live around here?"

Maureen shook her head. "West Village. It's quite a walk, as you know." She looked him up and down as best as she could. "I don't know you," she said bluntly, raising an eyebrow. "What if you brought me to an alley, beat me up, and raped me?"

The guy looked vaguely disturbed, so Maureen knew that he'd never do such a thing. "I just..." He trailed off, looking nervous.

Maureen shrugged. Her mother had always told her not to talk to strangers, which was precisely why she let the strange man help her up.

He let her lean on him the entire walk back to his loft, which turned out to be very close to where they'd collided.

Much later, when they were living together, the strange man would make jokes about how they'd literally 'run into each other.'

.x.

"This is where I live," the guy, whose name was Marcus, said to Maureen. He gestured to the huge, almost barren loft. "We aren't the best decorators, but May helps with that. She's Randy's girlfriend. And Randy is my best friend," he said idly as he rummaged through the kitchen cabinets.

Maureen looked around, not sure what to do. There was a couch nearby, though it didn't look particularly comfortable. "Sit anywhere," Marcus said, and Maureen sank down carefully onto the couch, perched on the edge.

"Collin should be back any minute, you'll probably meet him. He's cool," Marcus said, and as if on cue, a tall, black guy walked into the loft, a briefcase in his hand. He immediately dropped the briefcase on the floor, letting out a loud sigh.

"Suit looks good, Collin," Marcus smirked, and Collin rolled his eyes. "I keep telling myself, four more months; four more months until this stupid interning gig is over. Then I can have an actual paying job."

Maureen looked at him sympathetically. Collin turned around, finally noticing the brunette on the couch. "Bring home another straggler?" He asked Marcus, and he shrugged. "This is Maureen. I hit her with my bike, so I figured the least I could do would be to help her get cleaned up."

As he spoke, he made his way across the living room, holding what appeared to be an ice pack in one hand, and a bottle of aspirin in the other.

"Here," he said, handing her a glass of water and two aspirin. She smiled with her eyes, taking the pills and swallowing them gratefully.

Marcus looked nervously from the ice pack to Maureen, an obvious debate going on inside of his head. Finally, he held the ice pack up, putting it against her forehead gently. "Does this feel better?" He asked, concerned, and Maureen nodded, closing her eyes. "Numbs the pain."

"So, Maureen. What's your story?" Collin asked, sitting down on the couch next to her. He waited for her to talk as he picked up the pipe that sat on the coffee table, lighting it.

Maureen was hit with the smell of marijuana, and she relaxed against the couch as she began talking. "Well, I just moved here from Long Island. Just out of college, you know..."

Collin nodded. "Yeah, I'm just out of grad school, myself. Where'd you go?"

Maureen concentrated on the cold ice numbing her bruises, and the concerned man with aqua blue eyes in front of her, giving a small, tentative smile. She smiled back, her large, infectious grin.

"I went to Adelphi."

Collin smiled. "Ah. I'm doing an internship at NYU this year. Hopefully, if they like me enough, I'll get a teaching job next year. But you never know, with a huge university like that."

And the conversation continued for quite some time, with Maureen relaxing and smiling more than she had in a long time. Marcus still sat in front of her, dutifully holding the ice pack to Maureen's forehead, though they both knew that she was perfectly capable of doing it herself.

As Collin was in the middle of explaining his college major to Maureen, a loud thud sounded outside the door, and Marcus smirked. "Five bucks says it's May."

Collins smirked back. "Boy, I don't even have five bucks."

A tall girl with cherry-red hair stumbled into the loft clumsily, laughing. "I pissed off the doorman. Note to self: never piss off our doorman." She giggled to herself, as if this was the joke of the century, and unlaced her huge combat boots. Maureen couldn't help but stare at her.

She wore a black mini-skirt and a ripped black t-shirt. Her green eyes were rimmed with kohl, and red lipstick was painted boldly on her face. Her hair looked like she dyed it all the time-- damaged and fried, but somehow, she could pull it off.

The girl reminded Maureen of New York City itself-- messy, sometimes ugly, but ultimately beautiful, in its oddness. "Who're you?" The girl looked Maureen up and down with a raised eyebrow.

Maureen glanced self-consciously down at her own outfit: plain jeans and a "silence equals death" t-shirt probably looked like something a square would wear, especially compared to the whimsical people around her.

"I'm Maureen." Marcus looked warily at the girl. "I ran into her on my bike," he explained, and the girl nodded slightly. Maureen could tell, from Marcus's intimidated facial expression, that this girl called the shots around the loft.

After scrutinizing Maureen for a moment, the girl nodded. "Nice shirt. I'm May."

Maureen felt a sense of approval from May. "Nice to meet you."

May ignored Maureen, looking to Marcus. "Do you know when Randy will be back?"

Marcus shrugged. "Not sure. I think he's playing a gig tonight, so probably later."

May nodded, looking at Maureen again. She stared into Maureen's eyes for a few moments, before looking to Marcus again.

"She's a nice one, Marky. You should keep her."

Maureen couldn't help but blush, which she never did. Marcus's cheeks were pink, and he tugged slightly on his scarf.

Marcus turned to her. "My friend Randy is playing a show down at a club downtown. Do you want to come?"

Maureen looked at May again, who was ignoring her. She looked back to Marcus, and into his adorable blue eyes, which gave her a sense of comfort and security. Her first real friend in New York City, she decided.

"Sure, I'd love to."

And that was when everything began.

.x.

"Okay, Jules. It's ten-thirty, and you have school tomorrow," Maureen said to her daughter, who was still sitting up, a bright smile on her face.

"B-but...I want to hear more about Marcus and May and Collin and you!" Julia protested, an eerily Maureen-like pout on her face.

Maureen shrugged. "I'll tell you more tomorrow night, okay?"

Julia sighed. "Okay, fine. 'Night, Mommy."

Maureen leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, baby."

And with that, Maureen shut off the lights, wandering into the living room to re-live more of her past.

.x.

.x.


End file.
